Note: The following are my opinions. Yours will probably differ.
If you have objections, feel free to write to me at shydavid@ airspeed.com
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search this site.The Problem

Americans generally believe that their Constitution
guarantees their freedom to worship as they please. That is a
false belief. The USA Constitution recognizes that right: it
is the citizen's duty (and obligation) to defend it. If this
were Panglossís "best of all possible worlds" (Candide,
by Voltaire), the United States government would defend that
right against people who would deny other people that right. It
does not.

Even as I write this, there is an appeal being filed in a
child custody battle by a Fundamentalist Christian father that
insists the child's mother (Isha Martin-Hammer) is "unfit" because she is Wiccan.
That she is Wiccan has no bearing on her fitness as a parent:
yet she has spent over US$50,000 defending herself. When I read
part of the appeal, I was utterly appalled that the father's
lawyers (Ledbetters & Associates) would write such a shameful, obscene document. In my
opinion, the lawyers violated her Constitutionally- recognized
right to worship as she pleases without harassment; it seems
likely to me that if the mother had the financial resources to
sue them, she could do so successfully. (A copy of that Appeal
will be posted on this site eventually.) To explain how such
an evil can happen in the United States, a excellent essay
is available on this site: Understanding
Fundamentalism.

Today in the United States Wiccans are submitted to an
astonishing amount of abuse by people who object to their
choice of worship (see "A
Fundamentalist Christians Speaks Against Wiccans" for
one person's "justification" for that abuse). The fact is
that Wicca is eclectic and non-dogmatic and thus there is
no danger in becomming another People's
Temple or anything like it. And yet Wiccan clergy are
still denied clerical
privilages such as performing weddings, and even the USA
Army at Fort Hood, Texas is
drawing hate-filled angst at Wiccans exercising their right
to worship as they please (see also
my brief essay on the Fort Hood story.)

That intolerance and abuse often takes on a highly
irrational, insane, shrill voice, as found in
The Vile "File 18." The newsletter's
author pays lip service to religious freedom at the top of
his hate literature, all the while slandering Wiccan,
neo-Pagan, and Earth-Centric religions and the people who
follow / belong to those religions. He does this in the
name of "protecting babies." He hides from his readers the
fact that he is a Fundamentalist Christian with the desire
to persecute non-Christians; he publishes his hate
newsletter from the basement of his cult
[see "cult" vs.
"NRM"], while using a police department's
mailing address.

And sometimes that intolerance makes some people
deliberately confuse Satanism with
Wicca. These intolerant, ignorant people first assume
that Satanists are a threat to society (which is not
supported by valid evidence), and then call Wiccans,
neo-Pagans, and other members of Earth-centric religions
"Satanists." They know that using the word "Satanism" gets
people's interest and induces fear and concern in people.
These intolerant, hate-filled people are emotionally
manipulating their listeners and readers by calling
non-Satanists "Satanists." A fine example is
one hate magazine's list of "Satanic
cults" of which only 0.56% of the churches and
organizations listed are in fact Satanic. (The other
99.44% are Wiccan, neo-Pagan, Pagan, Druidic, ecological,
Asatru, publishers, or progressives.) Such nonsense has
even become a growth industry.
The fact is that Wicca / Satanism
are two seperate, distinct religions. A brief collection
of Letters To Editor shows the
ignorance of such people about Wicca: ignorance that ends
up harming Wiccans. Wiccan students are even being denied
the right to wear religious symbols in school
(see discussion here) and a
letter to the school board.

"Christians have oppressed Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Pagans, and
each other throughout their centuries of power, preaching
religious intolerance as the word of Jehovah whenever they had
the military, political, or economic power to make it stick --
and then piously preaching brotherhood, peace, and toleration
when they didn't." Isaac Bonewits

Mercury News reports the harassment Wiccans
and other Earth-centric religious followers deal with from Fundamentalist
Christians. Astonishing as it is, there have been Fundamentalist Christians
pretending to be Wiccan, and representing themselves as such to the news
media. (Is no lie too great for the greater glory of their god?) In the
follow-up article Reborn Again? we read the truth.
The fake Wiccan later suddenly discovers Fundamentalist
Christianity (he did it for the attention and the money).

One article expresses dismay at the growth of Wicca in Salem,
Massachusetts. The article notes that "Christian clergy" will pray
and make plans concerning the growth of Wicca in their town. There is a
glaring omission in the article: no where is it noted that Wiccans have
every right to worship as they please in Salem, Massachusetts, just as
in every other city, town, and burg in America.

Then there are the coy, compassion-sounding missives targeting
Wiccans, such as "A letter to Witches" by
Rev. Robert A. Morey. His confusion between
Wicca and Satanism is complete; his ignorance about both is total;
that has not made him hesitate to write about the subjects. He has
utterly missed the intent and methodology of Wiccan magick: he
assumes that Wiccans think magick works the way it does on
television. His belief about Wiccan magick is contrary to Wiccan's
belief about Wiccan magick. The result is that he appears the fool.
Looking to him for information on the subject is like going to David
Duke (the Ku Klux Klan twit) for information about Catholics, black
people, and immigration policy. A parody
from a nontheist answers Rev. Morey's "letter."

Another example, Watchman Fellowship's angst over
religious freedom, mentions "Witchcraft and Paganism infiltration,"
with no mention of the fact that the people their article castigates and
denounces have every right to worship as they please. Considering
the fact that the Jehovah's Witnesses are considered by many Christian
cults to be a destructive cult makes one wonder why they have not themselves
learned religious tolerance. What goes around comes around.

In Bill Schnoebelen's Big Black Lie we read
about a self-proclaimed "Witch" who claims to have de-converted or re-converted
or whatever back into Fundamentalist Christianity. He incorrectly uses
the words "Satanism" and "Wicca" to mean the same thing: darn good evidence
he has no idea what he's talking about. Rowan Moonstone asks
Bill a question about his beliefs but was ignored. There is a Book
Review here.

There are some very bizarre attacks against Wiccans making the
rounds. One is the hoax called "The Seven WICCA Letters,"
which one may read here. (It is
a re-make of the hoax written at the turn of the 20th century
called Protocols of the Learned Elders
of Zion which has long been known to be a hoax.)

There have been several attempts to educate the public about the harm
religious persecution against Wiccans, neo-Pagans, Pagans, and other Earth-centric
religions experience. The Project Witch Hunt Watch
newsletter is one example. The fact that Wiccans are not a threat to society
seems blatantly obvious to those who have examined Wiccans and Wicca; sadly,
far too many do not bother to examine the slanderous claims and accept
them as true.

One fine example of public education was
Cult Watch Response. It is very unfortunate
that the people who published this excellent resource have
ceased doing so. In some ways, the anti-Wiccan hysteria of the
early 1980s has decreased; yet the persecution continues. As
Wicca grows in popularity, opposition to it will increase.
Education is the key to religious tolerance; people in the USA
have unprecedented access to factual information about Wicca---
the problem is that there is also a great deal of anti-Wiccan
hate literature out there as well.

Another positive report, Special
Report On Wicca and Paganism, by Religious Movement
Resources Center's director Hal Mansfield, lets his readers know
that Wicca and Paganism is not a threat.

It is also fortunate that some police
officers learn about Wicca and Paganism from informed
individuals. This is not always the case: it is much more often
the case that law enforcement hears the hysterical, insane
voices of those who, for whatever reasons, hate and fear Wicca.
When a reserve police officer speaks
skeptically of Satanic Ritual Abuse, it is a good sign that
intelligence and "cooler heads" can at times prevail.

It is also fortunate that many Christians are
speaking against
their co-religionists about the harm they are committing against
Wiccans when they speak out of hate, fear, and ignorance. It is
very unfortunate that these tolerant Christians seem to be far
too few in number.

Some Pagans have been working to coordinate educational
organizations such as the Alliance for
Magical and Earth Religions. There are also many
attempts to build community: a great many have been, and
are, very successful. That progress owes much of its
success due to Wiccan / Pagan self-and constructive-criticism.

Those who wish to deny Wiccans their right to exist will just
have to accept the fact that we are here to stay. Wiccans
are members of Western society, and those
who do not like that fact will just have to adjust to it.

The "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and early 1990s has
decreased in incident and ferocity, but the repercussions
still exist. This link is to an
article about one of countless many that has been harmed by
such ignorance and misplaced zealotry.

Learning About Wicca

There is no guidelines on what all, or even the majority, of Wiccans
believe. Judy Harrow's Exegesis on the Wiccan Rede
is an excellent attempt, but since Wicca is not an organized religion,
has no leaders, is eclectic, and predicated upon each individual's experiences,
needs, and practices, there will never be a consensus on "what Wiccans
believe." There is no Wiccan version of the Catholic Church's Holy Office
to seek out and punish unorthodoxy. Since self- initiation is generally
considered by the Wiccan community to be as valid as High Priestess- and
High Priest- initiation, anyone who honestly, sincerely believes herself
or himself Wiccan may pretty much be considered so--- even when they may
know little or nothing about Wiccan practices, ideals, theology, and ideology.
That is a situation one must accept when a religion has no set dogma or
set orthodoxy.

However, there are many Traditions ("Trads") within Wicca: the Trads
do, for the most part, have guidelines, lesson plans, teachings, dogmas,
and the like as part of their religions. Many Trads have "degrees" that
a member may work towards and study for ("First Degree," "Second Degree,"
etc.). These are goals a Trad sets for members to judge their learning
progress and their commitment to their own personal growth, their Wiccan
community (in the form of Clergy services), and to the wider (non-Wiccan)
community. Most First Degrees require theological and thealogical study,
comparative religion study, ritual and rite practice, and community work
such as volunteering at animal shelters, women's shelters, community libraries,
fire- fighting, litter cleanup... whatever benefits the neighborhood and
its citizens.

So I must reiterate: the Wiccan religion has no set
dogma. It is eclectic, and mutable to fit its member's
needs, skills, and abilities. However, Wiccan Traditions
offer members a more structured, goal- oriented form of
worship and study, and a means of which to judge progress
in those studies. Therefore, when one says one is a
Wiccan, one can accept that self- determination; if one
says one is Alexandrian, Heathen, Asatru,
Druidic, Ar
nDraiocht Fein Isian, Faery, Dianic, or one of many other Trads,
one can generally know the beliefs and practices of that
person. I stress this point because a great many
Wiccans do not belong to Trads: there is therefore no
simple way of knowing for sure if someone is a Wiccan
except to take the person's word for it.

Not all Wiccans worship and / or revere the same
Goddesses and Gods; indeed, Wiccans view the Goddesses and
Gods in many different ways. Some see Goddess and God as
supernatural beings immanent in the world; others see Them
as symbols or archetypes (individual or universal,
respectively) of one's own unconscious or soul expression.
(Yes: this means there are Wiccans who are, in the
vernacular, non-theists and yet have a theism.)

Wiccans invoke Deity by becoming Her or Him. This is an act
of gnosis. The methods used
to acomplish this are many and varied; Trads may teach one
or more methods, while Solitary practitioners may find their own
method. Drawing Down the Moon
is one such ritual. A Full Moon
Ritual may also be viewed here. Please note that these
two written rituals are the author's techniques: not all,
or even most, Wiccans would perform these rituals as
written: they would modify them to suit their needs, or
discard them as personally unsuitable.